Featured Blog Posts (259)

UPDATE -…

Boss/Manger Leader vs Expert Leader

Does it matter if the fire incident commander was never a competent company officer? Does it matter if the company officer had limited time as a firefighter? Does it matter is the chief was an expert firefighter?…

                In part 1, I discussed the ability of a single four person engine company to aggressively attack an external apartment building fire, by deploying a deck gun blitz attack on the outside seat of the fire that was extending up the exterior of the building and threatening, or already in the attic space, while at the same time, getting a 2 ½ inch line up to the top floor and flowing water into the attic. Part 1 can be found here:…

This year has certainly been interesting related to the legal issues facing the fire service. We continue to see the fire departments in the news for many high profile fires, rescues, service calls and the other good things we do on a daily basis.

We also continue to see the fire departments mired in legal controversies that reduce the effectiveness of organizational cohesiveness and at times polarize our personnel and departments.

We can only read the legal effects of the…

New year, new beginnings, new opportunities to grow, share, and serve. What will you do in 2015?



May you all have a safe and fun year full of life and learning.





Want your own printable goals sheet? Just click on the image below and print (8.5x11).…

It’s not hard to remember December in 1999.

That year, in the month of December alone, this nation’s fire service lost EIGHTEEN firefighters in the line of duty.

Two fires accounted for half of that total.

On December 3,…

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!

May your shifts be safe and your rigs true on this Christmas day! Take a moment to hug your family, at home and in the firehouse, and be thankful for all you have in your life.

Personally, I want to thank each of you! Thank you for following my work and supporting its message. Thank you for being a sounding board for my…

PUT A TAG ON IT

The Fire Service as a whole and we who are fortunate to be a part of it need triage. In our day to day we seem sometimes unwilling to exercise the same honest, thorough, open and sometimes painful assessment that we use in a mass casualty incident.

Whether in prevention, service delivery, leadership, training, team dynamics, morale, community assessment of…

Do a quick internet search on vehicles vs. guardrails and your photo results will be…

C O U R A G E to C L O S E the G A P

As a follow up to the “Revenge of the Nerds” blog from November, I wanted to clarify my position because there have been some out there in the Social Media world that have been critical of the blog and many others that took offense to it. It was not written to offend anyone or to drive a wedge between the two sides. In the past there have been many one-sided comments made on current fire service culture. It’s…

Recently, I have been reading articles on this subject with much uneasiness.

In fact; I hesitate to call suicide a “subject”, because for many; suicide is real and has impacted them. It has reached out and grabbed them in some way. It is someone very close to them, someone they know or someone famous, whose career they have followed.

And, are loved ones LEFT to make “sense…

Return on Investment. A relatively simple business principle that says "by giving us your money, we will make you MORE money." One may question, "how does this apply to the fire service? We don't make money for the tax payers." In short, yes you are correct but we are a totally different type of monetary investment. In truth, many people pay for us simply…

On January 16th 2007, at 0047 hours Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) was dispatched to a reported fire in an apartment building. Three minutes later, the first district chief arrived and immediately requested a second and third alarm when dozens of occupants were observed at windows and balconies (Royal, 2009). “We addressed the obvious challenge and priority of the…

Well, you know which side of the isle I sit on. Below are some excellent links that further explain the science, research, and applied tactical aspects of the flow path study and SLICE-RS.…

I recently attended the IAFC-VCOS Symposium in Clearwater Beach.  It was a tremendous experience filled with great course content, lively discussions and debate about how to move the fire service forward in a unified fashion, and awesome networking with current and future fire service leaders from all across the country.  As you might expect, one of the most talked about topics was the ongoing UL/NIST fire behavior research.  It’s important stuff, to be sure.  In fact, the underlying theme…

Welcome to Grandview FD, Vinnie Cappaletti

“Son of a *****!” was all that Jake could say.

“Excuse me?” asks Vinnie.

“Didn’t Mommy teach you how to knock?” an irritated Jake asks.

“You don’t have a door on…

In the first two blogs we discussed the different factors that are important if you want to begin a chaplain program. Many of them relate directly to your drive and determination in seeing the plan through regardless of the obstacles you face in beginning this important program.

This time I would like to focus on how to be effective once this program has gotten off the ground. How do you make sure that you are influencing people and making a difference in your department?…

Leading a crew of diverse personalities can be challenging. As a fire officer it is your job to make sure everyone on your team is being as productive as possible, even if you have to adjust how you treat each individual to do so. The more effective you are at individualizing your leadership style, the more effectively your subordinates will carry out their assigned…